


Neon Pink

by Highsmith (quimtessence)



Series: Neon Pink [1]
Category: Earthquake Bird (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, F/F, First Kiss, First Meetings, Girls Kissing, Making Out, POV Lily Bridges, Queer Themes, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22407409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quimtessence/pseuds/Highsmith
Summary: It's Lucy's birthday when they first meet, and Lily can already tell she's a work in progress, too.Or, Bob was totally sussing out how into Lily Lucy already very obviously was. Duh.
Relationships: Lily Bridges/Louisa "Lucy" Fly
Series: Neon Pink [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612567
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Neon Pink

Lily thinks of herself as a work in progress as of three weeks ago and counting. She consciously and pointedly avoids thinking _trainwreck_ , thank you very much.

And, like, she's so over DC, and Tokyo is so out there but also kinda neat, you know, totally nearly cool enough for the move out here to be ultimately worth it.

It's Lucy's birthday when they first meet, and Lily can already tell she's a work in progress, too. An orchestra tuning up letting you know the instruments might not yet be warmed-up but it's going to be worth the wait when they finally are. Bob, very much unsubtly, tries to set them up; he, quite outrageously, tells her so, like, to her face. She's not so sure what that's about, mostly because he's on his fourth drink since the night started and the confession comes along while they're waiting in line for the bathroom, but she's instantly more interested regardless. Tokyo seems a better place for that sort of thing than DC, that's for sure, though a Taurus could turn out to be a hassle, but probably less drama than some guy.

Her shoulder digs painfully into the bar's wall, and she has to raise her voice shrilly to be heard over the music and the crowds ambling around and shuffling their feet waiting. "What did she say?"

"She sidestepped my statement of fact with a question." She doesn't mind he's over-articulating to eschew slurring his words; it's kinda funny. Bob's cute in a British sort of way. But also kind of full of shit, probably unintentionally at least half of the time.

"Exciting," she rolls her eyes.

"Don't knock it," he sing-songs as he walks off, the men's room predictably free first. She's left rolling her eyes again at his back.

He waits for her so they can detour together by the bar and buy another round, but also to beleaguer the point.

"I told her I thought you were quite fit, which I wholeheartedly stand by, and she asked what of it or something similar and looked at me strangely. But interested, definitely interested," he adds quickly through a sloppy grin.

Coordination doesn't seem to be within his grasp while tipsy, and he does a poor job of not spilling their beers everywhere, so much so she has to grab at his elbow to steady him. But he only smiles and changes the subject to city life once they reach their booth to deliver their bounty.

"Where are you living, actually?" Natsuko asks her before taking a big gulp of Sapporo from a tall glass.

Lowering her own glass, Lily only hesitates for a few moments before saying, "Crashing on a family friend's couch. Yeah, I can't wait to get my own place." She leaves it at that. No use ranting about it. Never mind said friend has been making obvious remarks to her live-in boyfriend within earshot of Lily about how maybe she could be looking for a place of her own more efficiently.

A very pretty Japanese girl with a terrible voice is trying to sing what might have once been a Cyndi Lauper song and is now succeeding in making it sound like a bunch of strangled cats backed by a bouncy melody. The guy she's with doesn't seem to mind, though.

"So, Lucy... how's it going?"

Lucy plays with the rim of her glass, tapping her front teeth against it, before lowering it to say, "I met someone." Slowly, she places it on the table, and waits, looking weirdly resigned.

"A guy?" Could be just the phrasing of the question, not at all unusual, but Lily thinks Natsuko asks it as if there could possibly be an alternative.

Lucy blinks, jaw tensing, before nodding, sort of smiling as well, though there's a tension that remains well past that moment's end. Lily has only met her a couple of hours before; could be that's the way Lucy is on an average night out with friends, doesn't usually feel like sharing, but somehow she doesn't think that's all there is to it.

They finish their drinks. No one offers to buy another round. Natsuko yawns twice in the span of a couple of minutes.

It turns out that Lucy lives about ten minutes from where Lily's currently crashing. The karaoke bar is only twenty minutes away from Lucy's. It makes sense to walk, as clear and warm as the evening is. So they walk, or, well, Lily kind of _walks Lucy home_ , which Bob picks up on as he waves them goodbye judging by the look he throws them, Natsuko seemingly the only one unpreoccupied with the way the night's ending. Lucy frowns but doesn't protest when Lily starts off in the direction of home with their elbows entwined, which is cool; Lily dislikes people making a big deal out of this sort of thing.

The question comes along a few minutes in: "Do you have a boyfriend?"

But Lucy doesn't hesitate. "I do not." She sounds off about it, though, and Lily recalls she said something about a guy she's met. Lily meets loads of guys on a daily basis, therefore she is fully aware that it doesn't mean anything much.

"Me neither."

"Huh," Lucy says, but it's low, another word lost on the wind.

They make small talk until they reach Lucy's building, and then Lily walks her up the stairs to her front door giggling at something to do with Bob. Door unlocked, Lucy reaches for the light, only to stand just inside the threshold staring blankly at her, but Lily only has a teeth-filled smile to give. Nothing else, not if Lucy doesn't invite her in.

She clears her throat. "Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"

Yes, she would like to come in, though yuck, _no_ , tea's so not her thing. Hence she does come in, kicking off her shoes reflexively, but says, "I don't need it." The door closes behind her quietly.

She walks into the main room as Lucy stands there unmoving for a long moment before following her in. The faint sound of her shoes getting discarded is followed by footsteps catching up with Lily, who's already nearing the bedroom window, excited and impressed despite herself. "Your place is great." She even really means it.

She hears: "It's not bad."

Understatement, although Lily has an inkling that's just how Lucy is about stuff. Lily would be bragging instead, that's for sure. She turns around abruptly, letting her bag fall to the ground. Lucy clearly didn't expect it, because all of a sudden they're standing closer together than they have all evening. Lily smiles, even though Lucy's frown only deepens at that.

"What are you doing?" she mutters carefully, eyes flickering from place to place like a startled bird, finally settling somewhere over Lily's left shoulder.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"I don't know," but there's a hitch in her breath on the last word, making it sound as if it's got two syllables. It's enough to bolster Lily's confidence she's not barking up the wrong tree here.

Finally, she takes pity on Lucy. "I'm kissing you." And she does, only waiting a five-count before leaning in (an inch in natural height difference, she notices, better than if they'd still been wearing shoes out in the street, or even in a backroom back at the karaoke bar), though by that point Lucy's already breathing harshly, eyes closed, swaying closer to meet her.

It's sweet. Lily likes sweet. She believes Lucy does, too. Her hands go to encircle Lucy's wrists as she licks at the seam of her lips. Soon enough she's licking inside. It's less sweet then, but Lily likes that a little bit more. Lucy moans into her mouth at the touch of Lily's tongue to hers, her lips parting just enough to allow Lily room to play.

It doesn't go further than making out leaning against the nearest wall. They say goodnight at the door sooner than Lily would have wanted to, but she's more about the long game than steamrolling her way into someone's life before they're quite ready for it. Despite what everyone around her has always thought, she's more than aware of what she can be like.

She leaves Lucy her friend's house number before putting her shoes on to descend the stairs to the street. A faint rain starts up a few minutes into her walk. Good; the asphalt was getting too hot anyway.

*

Time passes weirdly here. Lily digs it.

*

It's been three days and counting.

They don't need to label it. They don't even need to talk about it. Like, Lily knows how these things work, and Lucy's not some skeezy guy using her to get his dick wet or whatever, so it's all right that Lucy doesn't, like, call her, either to ask her out or just talk about it. All things in their time. Lily feels as if she's got all the time in the world here.

**Author's Note:**

> Here, I have a [tumblr](https://rhubarbdreams.tumblr.com/).


End file.
